Dead End Paradise

Chapter 5

Tears streamed down Amelia's face. She was hunched over in the snow, her entire body taken over by the laughter erupting from her mouth. This was an uncontrollable fit such that I had not experienced in a long time, the kind that put your sides in stitches and brought a flush to your face. I had no choice but to smile at the sight before me.

"Help me up?" Amelia asked, finally catching her breath. I reached down and grabbed hold of her arm, keeping her steady as she tried to regain her footing on a patch of ice. The dogs sat close by, watching attentively, unaware that they were the ones who had knocked her over.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I pulled Amelia close, hoping to provide her support on the slick ground.

"Fine." She replied curtly, looking up at me with eyes I could not read. The seconds ticked by as we stood there in silence, Amelia catching her breath and I holding her close. As was her nature, she was the one to break the silence. "There are shovels in the back," she said, pulling away.

"Isn't there a service that could pull me out?" I questioned, surveying the extent to which my car was buried.

"Nope, just us. Phones are out for now, so I can't get a hold of my usual guy Rick."

"This happens to you often?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. Amelia smirked and said nothing. Grabbing a shovel from the back of her car, she waded through the knee-deep snow to the other opposite side of the car.

Then, without warning, my phone began to shriek from my pocket. Its repeated ringing pierced through the muffled silence of the snow-covered road. Pulling it from the pocket of my oversized jacket, I watched as missed calls and messages scrolled across the screen. Most of them were from my sister Bell, which was to be expected. Sandwiched in between, however, were messages from work. I stared at those notifications for a long time. Silently deciding whether or not to respond to them, I glanced up at Amelia standing on the other side of the car. She was grinning ear to ear as she listened to my phone beep and buzz, her eyes shining with delight. And so, keeping her face in my peripheral, I deleted the job related messages. In just the miniscule amount of time I had spent with her, Amelia had made me realize that there was a world out there I was not experiencing. The haze that had once shielded my eyes from seeing the path less travelled had begun to lift. I was finally starting to see the sun.

"Lost reception. I'm safe but won't be home right away. Will explain everything later," I quickly typed out a response to Bell's frantic search for a reply.

"Your sister?" Amelia inquired, already knowing the answer. We had talked extensively about my family last night. As soon as Bell was brought up, words began to spew out of my mouth. Bell, or Bellatrix which no one dared to call her, was the only member of my family that I loved unconditionally. Amelia had listened politely as I went on and on about her. She listened, however, but didn't seem to truly understand my feelings for Bell. Despite my prodding, Amelia never told me about her family and made every effort to change the subject.

I nodded. "Let's get to it, or we'll be here all day," I stated, plunging my shovel into the packed snow.

With that, Amelia whistled to the dogs and they dove into action. With enormous enthusiasm, they began to dig, hauling great chunks of snow and ice away from the front bumper. Within moments, they had already made a sizeable dent in the obstruction, with Amelia not far behind. I could feel my phone still receiving messages from within my pocket, the cell reception strong now that it was back for good. The movement distracted me from the task at hand.

"I can almost see the tire," Amelia hurled over the roof of the car. Obviously proud of herself, she dug with increased fervor. But suddenly, she stopped. Dropping her shovel to the ground, she tentatively stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small cell phone. It emitted a delicate chime announcing the arrival of a call. Amelia stared at the screen as I watched her face go pale and her lips purse.